Devin Arms To put tech into any lesson, start with the lesson. #edtech# http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/01/tech-lesson-532/3/
This article talked about how to put tech into any lesson. The nice focus of this lesson was that you don't go out and find it and then create the lesson, but you create the lesson and then find the technology that support this. This was a great things to know, as when looking for the technology to come up with a lesson, we spend SO much time out on the web looking and wading through everything out there. In the article the gal that was doing the presentation they wrote about, she took an English lesson and took the goals and objectives and broke down what apps would support and were aligned with a vision and which played a purposeful role in the support of student learning. This was a great basic, broken down way to utilize tech in a lesson, without wasting all your time looking for the information that you needed to support that lesson.
The article that David Geurin tweeted list a great list of 16 questions for school leaders going digital. This is a great set of questions for teachers and administrator going forward, even ones that already have technology implemented, as there are always bugs and glitches we run into. If the administrator is not on bored or supportive, then not all of the staff will be either, which I have seen in schools I have been around. Some of the questions to consider that I found pertinent were, What do we want teaching and learning to look like in our classrooms and how will we get there?, What professional learning is needed to properly support teachers in the transformation process? A great one was, "How will we engage our community in the digital conversion process?", especially when the Sioux Falls School district switched so suddenly and quickly, and didn't really take the time to gauge the public knowledge/interests/wants. One that I see that we never looked into was "How can we best work with businesses and community organizations to support students that don't have access at home?" So many of my students are obsessed at school with internet, because that is only time they get to access it. Other questions focused on proper infrastructure and bandwidth needed and plan to ensure reliability, which were BIG issues in the past school year for many students on Chromebooks, which led to big frustrations for teachers who had planned to use them in their lessons. All of these question provided food for thought for students and teachers, and really brought up some common, reoccurring issues that I see day to day in school.
This is a great article that delves into the idea of how to get students to write, do it better, and give them feedback without taking up a lot of the time. This teacher in the article talks about having his students write a certain number of words per week in their digital writer's notebook. He has them do multiple writings on a sepcific genre's of topics, which helps him to see specific mistakes that students continually make. He also uses the add on Kazeina to give audio feedback for students as well in his class. He does bring up the fact that at times you are teaching technology in the class, but that after the students have it, then you can move on from there. This would be a great feature for an English class, because students A: don't like to handwrite stuff, and B: area always asking how much do they have to type! The feedback methods are good time savers as well, because you are able to see how students write, and how they can grow their writing week by week.
#flippedclass
David Kapuler: one of my favorite tools to flip a classroom... cyber-kap.blogspot.com/2015/06/edpuzz…#edtech#flippedclass@EDpuzzle This is an awesome piece that can be used as a back channeling piece to a movie that students are watching. As a teacher you can use it to add questions and other ideas to a video. This place has an abundance of various videos or audio snips that you can use. Once you play them you can place question within the video that the students have to answer as they watch it. Then it gives you a feed back of how each students did and if they got things done or not. The students can also ask inferencing questions and give input. This is a great way to engage students in a video and add some additional teaching to your own in a different electronic way.
June 3 Reports #edtech StudySync@studysync
"7 Essential Steps for Adopting New Technology" (via @techlearning): ow.ly/NQuCU#edtech#edchat This link discussed 7 steps for adopting new technology. With so much of it out there this is a good thing. It discussed looking at if it fit with the curriculum and privacy policy first as well as doing a trial version to see if the cost would be worth it. Next it talked about coming up with a plan to adopt. Finally it talked about evaluating it thoroughly and ultimately making it a data driven decision.
Great Visual: Top 10 Evidence Based Teaching Strategies that have a HUGE impact on student results. #EdBeat#Edchat
This tweet gave a great quick and dirty tips for evidence based teaching strategies. These were great reminders about things that we easily forget are the basics with teaching. The questioning technnique is something that many of us are told to focus on. Also having studetns summarise new information in graphical ways helps reach those kiddos who are more visually and articially combined! This is a great visual to post in the classroom or teacher work room to give a simple reminder to everyone how t make sure we are being awesome at our jobs!
Embedded image permalink
#Engchat WeAreTeachers@WeAreTeachers
Love this idea from @KnittyBitties - 26 Books Challenge ow.ly/NQ5J2#reading#tlchat#engchatpic.twitter.com/6b1W59twpW
This linked to an awsome list of a way to choose a book. This list could not only be used in the summer, but also in the school year. It gives choices such as "read abook you chose simply because of the cover" or "one that has been made into a movie". Sometimes we get so hung up on how to choose book, it's nice to have a way to do it for us, in a different way. I could use this for our Friday reading, in that students draw a way to choose a book from a hat to decide what they will read next. I am so excited to use this in my room!
#flippedclass BYOD News@byod_news
RT echo360: Flipping the classroom – from the student’s perspective bit.ly/1EnJoCJ#flippedclass#edtechpic.twitter.com/cA1af6NA2G
This article was interesting on the student's perspective of a flipped classroom. I admit I am a bit skeptical of this ideas, because my students don't do homework unless their lives depend on it (and in that case it's rare!). This really changed my thinking on trying it in the room a few times throughout the year to see what it would do for the learning. I loved the two quotes the best about being forced to be present and actively engaged. Coming in with the prior knowledge of what is going to be taught is great, because some of our students have no way to get that prior knowledge before coming into class. This would be an interesting experiment try with my students! June 4 Reports #edtech Ed News of Interest!@NYCSpedNews
This article talked about the different technology that is out there now is preparing out kids for jobs that don't yet exist. They talked about how it is difficult to predict what jobs there will be in the future, but that based on where things are headed, we can get a general idea. The quote that 65% of children entering grade school this year will end up working in careers that haven’t even been invented yet. is crazy to consider! It concluded by stating that things such as Minecraft and other games are creating ways for kids to explore hundreds of skills and ways in which we can be creative through them. #edchat HLC Bridgewater NJ@HLC_Bridgewater
Here are a few #tips to help your child become speedier and more organized. ow.ly/MP9fd#parentchat#edchat This was a great list for parents and for teachers. It compiled a basic list of simple things you could do to help your child become speedier and more organized. This I like because it would apply to the classroom as well. Giving the check list would be could and this could be done on the board. The thing I found most helpful towards the end of this year was setting a time limit for each task. Previously I would let a lesson hang on and on waiting for those last few students to get done, but I found that they were always the one holding us up. So I stopped and set deadlines, which helped the class to keep going forward allowing for more learning. I also liked the having the frank conversations about what is time wasters as well, because kids don't seems to pay attention to what distracts them at times either. #engchat Brynn Allison@literarymaven
In case school STILL isn't over for you either. Ideas for HS yr end. goo.gl/564UC5#teachers#engchat
I really liked these ideas! At the end of the high school year we get so wrapped up in studying for finals and getting those little extras done, but this is a great way to sum up the year for students. They discussed having them make a video based on what they will remember or advice for the students in the fall. Another closure idea they gave was a stuff you should know and share with the students those pieces of poetry or videos or stories that you didn't quite get to, or that are classics and they should be introduced to.The best part is they just get to enjoy the information and it isn't something they need to learn. A couple others were class toasts and a class mural. Seeing how much my students stress over, these would be great relaxing activities to unwind from all the pressures that surround them. #flippedclass GDC Foundation@glodigcit
5 Secrets for a Great Flipped Classroom hubs.ly/y0Dznc0#edtech#elearning#flippedclasspic.twitter.com/M7lYELDvvv
This gave great information on five things to help you flip your classroom. I liked how they talked about the fact that you needed to get comfortable doing videos and looking for ways to record your voice and yourself. Another secret was that you could easily incorporate differentiated learning for students within the lessons. I could see how it would be easy to give a variety of ways a student could answer or show you what they know for class the next day. Finally getting honest feedback from parents and students of how the flipped classroom model is working is a final key secret. #edtech Brad Meyer@Brad21clsMeyer
53+ Free Image Sources For Your Blog and Social Media Posts bit.ly/1oPTEjO Some great stuff for Education projects! #__EdTech__#digcit This website tweeted by this blogger has a great list of resources for free image sources. This would be a great tool for students to have to look at or develop their own image sources from, as sometimes students spend so much time looking for images that will work for them. All of these work for various presentations that the students could use and they are free and not copyrighted with an annoying water mark either. Some of them do require a short registration, and some are limited to smaller images, with paying for the larger forms, so checking a few out before hand would be good. You could then set up a furly or a list on a wiki or some other source for students to click on, rather then searching themselves. I am sure I will use this in the upcoming year.
#edchat Christie Riegelhaupt@Christie_Editor
I am a Teacher, Not a Hero | Edutopia edut.to/1KGtw3w#edchat This tweet post really spoke to me as a teacher. This article talked about how we as teachers can make it through all the common core and the issues that the government throws at us. It talks about how we don't work any harder then the mom's that work hard jobs scrubbing dishes and dad's who are migrant workers who work harder in a day. It address how parents can help teachers by not picketing and complaining with "misplaced rage", but to be there at home for their kids. Teach them how to listen and follow directions, teach them how to follow through with things once they have finished and work to the best of their ability. This really hit home for me as a teacher because I see parents who work all the time, or have no idea what their child is up to in school, and this writer really writes well speaking to parents of children who we maybe struggle with in school.
In the same boat as the previous article of how parents can help children, this is a good, simple poster to tell parents about how they can help their child become better readers. It talks about specific questions they can ask their child as they read (ones that we ask students in the classroom when we read to them). It also talks about letting your child see you read! I think that is a power in itself, because I remember my mom being the reader when I was younger. I like the basics of teaching your child to recognize their own name, and finally just the reading out loud to your child, whatever words you see! I think the reading out loud is a powerful tool that parents have to help their child from early on, and it is a simple idea that is frequently overlooked.
#flippedclass PearsonNorthAmerica@PearsonNorthAm
Short and simple steps on how to use videos in flipped learning environments: spr.ly/6010ho7k#flippedclass
This truly was an article that had a short and simple steps on how to use videos in a flipped learning environment. It first talked about why would you use videos in the first place. They mentioned how it would be a good idea for the instructor to write what they woudl want to say and then put it into a script form to help modify and focus it to what you want and how you want to teach you lesson. The second point it covered was how long should the video be and it addressed the fact that we cannot gauge the level of engagement when students are watching the video so having a video that is 45 mins long, may be too long for them, but chunky the material into individual concepts may be beneficial to students. Finally they addressed what should be on the videos and that investing in quality and material and also the time initially will be worth it in the end, because teachers can use the material over several terms.
#edtech
Devin ArmsTo put tech into any lesson, start with the lesson. #edtech#
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/01/tech-lesson-532/3/
This article talked about how to put tech into any lesson. The nice focus of this lesson was that you don't go out and find it and then create the lesson, but you create the lesson and then find the technology that support this. This was a great things to know, as when looking for the technology to come up with a lesson, we spend SO much time out on the web looking and wading through everything out there. In the article the gal that was doing the presentation they wrote about, she took an English lesson and took the goals and objectives and broke down what apps would support and were aligned with a vision and which played a purposeful role in the support of student learning. This was a great basic, broken down way to utilize tech in a lesson, without wasting all your time looking for the information that you needed to support that lesson.
#edchat
16 Questions for School Leaders Going Digital http://buff.ly/1SSav3X via thomascmurray#edtech#edchat
The article that David Geurin tweeted list a great list of 16 questions for school leaders going digital. This is a great set of questions for teachers and administrator going forward, even ones that already have technology implemented, as there are always bugs and glitches we run into. If the administrator is not on bored or supportive, then not all of the staff will be either, which I have seen in schools I have been around. Some of the questions to consider that I found pertinent were, What do we want teaching and learning to look like in our classrooms and how will we get there?, What professional learning is needed to properly support teachers in the transformation process? A great one was, "How will we engage our community in the digital conversion process?", especially when the Sioux Falls School district switched so suddenly and quickly, and didn't really take the time to gauge the public knowledge/interests/wants. One that I see that we never looked into was "How can we best work with businesses and community organizations to support students that don't have access at home?" So many of my students are obsessed at school with internet, because that is only time they get to access it. Other questions focused on proper infrastructure and bandwidth needed and plan to ensure reliability, which were BIG issues in the past school year for many students on Chromebooks, which led to big frustrations for teachers who had planned to use them in their lessons. All of these question provided food for thought for students and teachers, and really brought up some common, reoccurring issues that I see day to day in school.#engchat
Ryan: Scaffold the writing process with the digital writer's notebook: gerarddawson.org/scaffold-the-w… via @GerardDawson3#engchat#21stedchat#edchatriThis is a great article that delves into the idea of how to get students to write, do it better, and give them feedback without taking up a lot of the time. This teacher in the article talks about having his students write a certain number of words per week in their digital writer's notebook. He has them do multiple writings on a sepcific genre's of topics, which helps him to see specific mistakes that students continually make. He also uses the add on Kazeina to give audio feedback for students as well in his class. He does bring up the fact that at times you are teaching technology in the class, but that after the students have it, then you can move on from there. This would be a great feature for an English class, because students A: don't like to handwrite stuff, and B: area always asking how much do they have to type! The feedback methods are good time savers as well, because you are able to see how students write, and how they can grow their writing week by week.
#flippedclass
David Kapuler: one of my favorite tools to flip a classroom... cyber-kap.blogspot.com/2015/06/edpuzz…#edtech#flippedclass@EDpuzzleThis is an awesome piece that can be used as a back channeling piece to a movie that students are watching. As a teacher you can use it to add questions and other ideas to a video. This place has an abundance of various videos or audio snips that you can use. Once you play them you can place question within the video that the students have to answer as they watch it. Then it gives you a feed back of how each students did and if they got things done or not. The students can also ask inferencing questions and give input. This is a great way to engage students in a video and add some additional teaching to your own in a different electronic way.
June 3 Reports
#edtech
StudySync @studysync
"7 Essential Steps for Adopting New Technology" (via @techlearning): ow.ly/NQuCU #edtech #edchat
This link discussed 7 steps for adopting new technology. With so much of it out there this is a good thing. It discussed looking at if it fit with the curriculum and privacy policy first as well as doing a trial version to see if the cost would be worth it. Next it talked about coming up with a plan to adopt. Finally it talked about evaluating it thoroughly and ultimately making it a data driven decision.
#edchat
Tim B Watkins, EdD@tbwatkins89
Great Visual: Top 10 Evidence Based Teaching Strategies that have a HUGE impact on student results. #EdBeat #Edchat
This tweet gave a great quick and dirty tips for evidence based teaching strategies. These were great reminders about things that we easily forget are the basics with teaching. The questioning technnique is something that many of us are told to focus on. Also having studetns summarise new information in graphical ways helps reach those kiddos who are more visually and articially combined! This is a great visual to post in the classroom or teacher work room to give a simple reminder to everyone how t make sure we are being awesome at our jobs!
#Engchat
WeAreTeachers @WeAreTeachers
Love this idea from @KnittyBitties - 26 Books Challenge ow.ly/NQ5J2 #reading #tlchat #engchat pic.twitter.com/6b1W59twpW
This linked to an awsome list of a way to choose a book. This list could not only be used in the summer, but also in the school year. It gives choices such as "read abook you chose simply because of the cover" or "one that has been made into a movie". Sometimes we get so hung up on how to choose book, it's nice to have a way to do it for us, in a different way. I could use this for our Friday reading, in that students draw a way to choose a book from a hat to decide what they will read next. I am so excited to use this in my room!
#flippedclass
BYOD News @byod_news
RT echo360: Flipping the classroom – from the student’s perspective bit.ly/1EnJoCJ #flippedclass #edtech pic.twitter.com/cA1af6NA2G
This article was interesting on the student's perspective of a flipped classroom. I admit I am a bit skeptical of this ideas, because my students don't do homework unless their lives depend on it (and in that case it's rare!). This really changed my thinking on trying it in the room a few times throughout the year to see what it would do for the learning. I loved the two quotes the best about being forced to be present and actively engaged. Coming in with the prior knowledge of what is going to be taught is great, because some of our students have no way to get that prior knowledge before coming into class. This would be an interesting experiment try with my students!
June 4 Reports
#edtech
Ed News of Interest! @NYCSpedNews
How Minecraft and Duct Tape Wallets Prepare Our Kids for Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet edsurge.com/n/2015-05-26-h… #edtech via @EdSurge
This article talked about the different technology that is out there now is preparing out kids for jobs that don't yet exist. They talked about how it is difficult to predict what jobs there will be in the future, but that based on where things are headed, we can get a general idea. The quote that 65% of children entering grade school this year will end up working in careers that haven’t even been invented yet. is crazy to consider! It concluded by stating that things such as Minecraft and other games are creating ways for kids to explore hundreds of skills and ways in which we can be creative through them.
#edchat
HLC Bridgewater NJ @HLC_Bridgewater
Here are a few #tips to help your child become speedier and more organized. ow.ly/MP9fd #parentchat #edchat
This was a great list for parents and for teachers. It compiled a basic list of simple things you could do to help your child become speedier and more organized. This I like because it would apply to the classroom as well. Giving the check list would be could and this could be done on the board. The thing I found most helpful towards the end of this year was setting a time limit for each task. Previously I would let a lesson hang on and on waiting for those last few students to get done, but I found that they were always the one holding us up. So I stopped and set deadlines, which helped the class to keep going forward allowing for more learning. I also liked the having the frank conversations about what is time wasters as well, because kids don't seems to pay attention to what distracts them at times either.
#engchat
Brynn Allison @literarymaven
In case school STILL isn't over for you either. Ideas for HS yr end. goo.gl/564UC5 #teachers #engchat
I really liked these ideas! At the end of the high school year we get so wrapped up in studying for finals and getting those little extras done, but this is a great way to sum up the year for students. They discussed having them make a video based on what they will remember or advice for the students in the fall. Another closure idea they gave was a stuff you should know and share with the students those pieces of poetry or videos or stories that you didn't quite get to, or that are classics and they should be introduced to.The best part is they just get to enjoy the information and it isn't something they need to learn. A couple others were class toasts and a class mural. Seeing how much my students stress over, these would be great relaxing activities to unwind from all the pressures that surround them.
#flippedclass
GDC Foundation @glodigcit
5 Secrets for a Great Flipped Classroom hubs.ly/y0Dznc0 #edtech #elearning #flippedclass pic.twitter.com/M7lYELDvvv
This gave great information on five things to help you flip your classroom. I liked how they talked about the fact that you needed to get comfortable doing videos and looking for ways to record your voice and yourself. Another secret was that you could easily incorporate differentiated learning for students within the lessons. I could see how it would be easy to give a variety of ways a student could answer or show you what they know for class the next day. Finally getting honest feedback from parents and students of how the flipped classroom model is working is a final key secret.
#edtech
Brad Meyer @Brad21clsMeyer
53+ Free Image Sources For Your Blog and Social Media Posts bit.ly/1oPTEjO Some great stuff for Education projects! #__EdTech__ #digcit
This website tweeted by this blogger has a great list of resources for free image sources. This would be a great tool for students to have to look at or develop their own image sources from, as sometimes students spend so much time looking for images that will work for them. All of these work for various presentations that the students could use and they are free and not copyrighted with an annoying water mark either. Some of them do require a short registration, and some are limited to smaller images, with paying for the larger forms, so checking a few out before hand would be good. You could then set up a furly or a list on a wiki or some other source for students to click on, rather then searching themselves. I am sure I will use this in the upcoming year.
#edchat
Christie Riegelhaupt @Christie_Editor
I am a Teacher, Not a Hero | Edutopia edut.to/1KGtw3w #edchat
This tweet post really spoke to me as a teacher. This article talked about how we as teachers can make it through all the common core and the issues that the government throws at us. It talks about how we don't work any harder then the mom's that work hard jobs scrubbing dishes and dad's who are migrant workers who work harder in a day. It address how parents can help teachers by not picketing and complaining with "misplaced rage", but to be there at home for their kids. Teach them how to listen and follow directions, teach them how to follow through with things once they have finished and work to the best of their ability. This really hit home for me as a teacher because I see parents who work all the time, or have no idea what their child is up to in school, and this writer really writes well speaking to parents of children who we maybe struggle with in school.
#engchat
Ann Amanda Bee @AnnAmandaBee
“@Primary_Ed: 11 Ways a Parent Can Help a Child Read #edchat #parents pic.twitter.com/o6JAtKNKoG #edtech #engchat #reading
In the same boat as the previous article of how parents can help children, this is a good, simple poster to tell parents about how they can help their child become better readers. It talks about specific questions they can ask their child as they read (ones that we ask students in the classroom when we read to them). It also talks about letting your child see you read! I think that is a power in itself, because I remember my mom being the reader when I was younger. I like the basics of teaching your child to recognize their own name, and finally just the reading out loud to your child, whatever words you see! I think the reading out loud is a powerful tool that parents have to help their child from early on, and it is a simple idea that is frequently overlooked.
#flippedclass
PearsonNorthAmerica @PearsonNorthAm
Short and simple steps on how to use videos in flipped learning environments: spr.ly/6010ho7k #flippedclass
This truly was an article that had a short and simple steps on how to use videos in a flipped learning environment. It first talked about why would you use videos in the first place. They mentioned how it would be a good idea for the instructor to write what they woudl want to say and then put it into a script form to help modify and focus it to what you want and how you want to teach you lesson. The second point it covered was how long should the video be and it addressed the fact that we cannot gauge the level of engagement when students are watching the video so having a video that is 45 mins long, may be too long for them, but chunky the material into individual concepts may be beneficial to students. Finally they addressed what should be on the videos and that investing in quality and material and also the time initially will be worth it in the end, because teachers can use the material over several terms.